Four of the world’s leading acoustic guitar virtuosos join creative forces to bring their individual and collective musical genius to the stage with The Great Guitars™, touring unique venues in six U.S. cities in April 2014.

The Great Guitars traces its colorful heritage back to the 1970’s when the legendary jazz guitarists of that era toured the world and recorded together. Award-winning guitarist Martin Taylor, who replaced Herb Ellis to become part of the original group in the 1980’s with the legendary Barney Kessel and Charlie Byrd, has revised the format for the 21st century--enlisting three of today’s top acoustic players to co-create a brilliant program displaying guitar mastery, emotion, humor and musical fireworks.

Combining Taylor’s award-winning virtuosic finger style with Vignola’s jaw-dropping technique, Raniolo’s energetic playing and D’Agostino’s classical-inspired artistry, the concert features solo, duet, trio and quartet performances by these four acknowledged masters of fingerstyle, acoustic and jazz guitar. Between them, these guitar greats have worked with artists ranging from Tommy Emmanuel and David Grisman to Donald Fagen and Wynton Marsalis.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Pat Metheny calls Martin Taylor “one of the most awesome solo guitar players in the history of the instrument, while Jeff Beck says, “he out-shreds all of us—I’ve never seen anything like it.” Taylor is widely recognized as the world’s foremost exponent of solo fingerstyle jazz guitar playing, with a record 15 British Jazz Awards, Top 10 albums in the USA and Europe and an MBE from the Queen of Great Britain. Taylor serves as a globally recognized and beloved online guitar teacher through the Martin Taylor Guitar Academy, in association with ArtistWorks, the world’s leading online learning provider with students in more than 60 countries.

Frank Vignola is highly regarded as one of the most accomplished, multi-dimensional players in the world today. Les Paul added him to his “Five Most Admired Guitar List” for the Wall Street Journal while the New York Times deemed Vignola as “one the brightest guitar stars.”

Even though his musical career is only at the beginning, Vinny Raniolo has already had many opportunities that take most players a lifetime to achieve, having toured 14 countries and played with some of the world’s leading musicians.

Peppino D’Agostino is a Renaissance man whose inspired, poetic style earned him the “Best Acoustic Guitarist” award from readers of Guitar Player Magazine. D’Agostino’s playing is like a wonderful journey, taking its inspiration from the music of Brazil, American, Ireland and his native Italy.

GREAT GUITARS TWITTER CHAT: Guitar fans around the world will have an unprecedented opportunity to be a part of a Twitter Chat with the Great Guitars™ virtuosos—come join the conversation about jazz, acoustic and fingerstyle guitar and ask these guitar greats your questions on Wednesday, March 19th at 12 noon Pacific time, #greatguitars2014, presented in collaboration with ArtistWorks.